Brush grinder and brush applicator device for delivery of a cosmetic powder

ABSTRACT

A powder applicator includes a base housing with a protruding brush and an opening into a cavity for storing powder beads. A body housing opening creates a chamber that transitions into a chute having a second smaller opening for delivery of powder. A filter partitions the chamber into grinding and delivery chambers, which are interconnected by selectively sized holes therein. Bristles of an applicator brush are secured about the chute. The base housing is rotatably secured to the body housing, with the first brush extending into the grinding chamber to thereby grind powder beads received therein into a powder. The first brush contacts the filter member and causes doffing of formed powder through the holes and into the delivery chamber. A cap having a cantilevered post snaps onto the body housing to protect the applicator brush when not in use, with the post&#39;s end plugging the delivery opening.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority on U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/676,622 filed on Jul. 27, 2012 and U.S. application Ser. No.13/953,501 filed Jul. 29, 2013, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to improvements in cosmetic powderdispensers, and more particularly to an apparatus which is capable ofon-demand production of powder from beads of processed powder that maybe in the form of balls, with contemporaneous or subsequent dispensingof the powder.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Cosmetic powders today serve many different functions. A face powder maybe applied to give a smooth sheen to the wearer's skin, and may serve asa foundation. It may be translucent, or may alternatively be pigmentedto match the skin tone of the user. Cosmetic powder may also comprisesunscreen to protect against damage to underlying skin from exposure tosunlight. These powders may also absorb oils from the skin and preventthe appearance of shiny patches, and may furthermore conceal open pores.

Cosmetic powders are available for application as a compact thatcontains pressed powder, or as a loose powder in a container. However,uniform distribution of the cosmetic upon the user's face is more easilyachieved through the application of a loose powder. Many producers of acosmetic powder will market their products by housing the powder in aseparate container, into which a brush may be dipped to withdraw anuncertain amount of the product. Since these cosmetic products areexpensive, a number of inventions have been developed to attempt toprovide for the controlled and/or metered dispensing of the powder.These inventions typically comprise a chamber for housing the loosepowder, and some means of dispensing the powder.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,287 to Gieux for “Powder Dispensing Brush forCosmetic Use” includes a powder reservoir having tufts of hairs securedthereto using a sleeve, with the powder being permitted to migrate fromthe reservoir to the hair by at least one passage therebetween. However,this does not inhibit or limit the transmission of powder from thereservoir to the hairs, and can become quite messy.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,932,533 to Chen for “Cosmetic Container for ControllingPowder Flow Rate” provides better control over the flow of the powder.The Chen device comprises a container body for storing the powder, andhas a pair of corresponding guiding slots on an end, with the containerbody being rotatably secured to a brush body that has a pair ofcorresponding outlet slots that may align with the guiding slots for aportion of the rotation between the two members, to permit the transferof powder therebetween and onto the brush. So, powder is onlytransferred to the brush when some portion of the guiding slots andoutlet slots are aligned. But the user does not have a visual cue as towhen they are or are not aligned, as they are internal, and thus theuser does not have positive control over the timing and amount of powderpermitted to escape from the container body. Thus, the user mayunintentionally store the unit while the slots are aligned leading to anexcessive expulsion of powder onto the brush, much of which may bewasted.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,275,885 to Byun for “Cosmetic Brush” discloses a devicethat stores powder in a body, and by actuating a push-button that movesa spring-biased rod, the rod causes powder to flow through an inlet holeand an outlet hole of a powder transfer tube, for delivery of the powderin a constant amount onto a brush. Therefore, the Byun device, bytransmitting a constant amount of powder with each cycling of thebutton, offers an improvement over the prior art powder dispensers,which were messy and less efficient. The present invention addresses thedrawbacks of the prior art in a different manner, which furthermorepermits the user the choice of a limited incremental transmission ofpowder, or of storing a medium or large quantity of powder for a moresubstantial and immediate application, or a later application.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to provide a dispenser usable for thedispensing of a cosmetic powder.

It is another object of the invention to provide a dispenser that iscapable of delivering a small amount of a cosmetic powder onto a brushapplicator.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a dispenser that iscapable of alternately delivering a medium to a large amount of cosmeticpowder onto a brush applicator.

It is another object of the invention to provide a dispenser that storescosmetic powder in a bead of processed powder that may be in the form ofspherical balls for a more aesthetic appearance.

It is also an object of the invention to provide a dispenser that iscapable of crushing and grinding powder beads into a powder foron-demand availability to the user.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and claims, and from the accompanyingdrawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A dispenser for applying a cosmetic powder may comprise a base housinghaving a first end and a second end with a cavity therebetween. A largeopening in the first end may be usable to receive a plurality of powderbeads for storage in the cavity. The first end of the housing mayreceive a bottom cover to releasably secure the large opening, which maybe subsequently accessed to add powder beads when needed. The cover maysnap into the housing, or may be threadably received therein. The secondend of the housing may have a small orifice to permit egress of one ormore powder beads when needed. Protruding from the second end of thebase housing may be a first brush. The first brush may comprise aplurality of bristles having a first end secured in a retaining ring,with the bristles extending therefrom to be generally unrestricted interms of movement, other than the stiffness of the tuft of bristlessecured by the ring. The ring of the bristles may be fixed within aportion of the second end of the base housing, with the second end ofthe plurality of bristles protruding away from the second end of thebase housing.

The dispenser may also comprise a body housing that is rotatably securedto the base housing. The body housing may have a large opening on oneend that creates a chamber that transitions into a chute having a secondsmaller opening thereat for delivery of powder. A filter member isreceived through the large opening to partition the chamber into agrinding chamber and a delivery chamber, with the delivery chamber beingproximal to the chute and small delivery opening, and the grindingchamber being proximal to the large opening The grinding chamber and thedelivery chamber are interconnected by selectively sized holes in thefilter member. The plurality of selectively sized holes of the filtermember may preferably admit particles having a rough size of 1 mm orsmaller. When the base housing is rotatably secured to the body housing,the first brush will extend into the grinding chamber, and the smallorifice at the second end of the base housing will face the grindingchamber to admit powder beads therein as they egress from the storagecavity. The first brush may be positioned in the second end of the basehousing so as to have an axis that is off-set from the rotational axisof the joined base and body housings. A serpentine-shaped stiffener mayextend from the second end of the base housing, with the stiffenerextending into a portion of the grinding chamber to be proximate to thefilter member but be displaced therefrom, and with a first side of theserpentine-shaped stiffener curving around the second brush, and asecond side of the stiffener curving around the small orifice at thesecond end of the base housing.

As the user rotates the base housing relative to the body housing, thepowder beads that had been admitted into the grinding chamber from thestorage cavity, will be crushed and ground into a powder, to an extentdictated by the amount of rotation caused by the user. As powder isformed, the bristle ends of the first brush, which may be in contactwith the filter member, may cause doffing of the formed powder throughthe holes and into the delivery chamber. Only crushed powder particles,since they are smaller than the selectively sized holes, may thereforebe admitted into the delivery chamber.

The dispenser may also comprise a plurality of bristles forming a secondbrush usable for application of the powder, which may be fixedly securedperipherally about the delivery opening of the body housing's chute,which may be conically shaped. The bristles of the second brush may besecured thereto using adhesive and/or a bristle retention sleeve.

The bristles of the delivery brush may be protected by a cap when thedispenser is not in use. The cap may snap onto and off of the bodyhousing, to protect the applicator brush, and may further comprise acantilevered post, with an end of the post serving to plug the deliveryopening when the cap is on the dispenser, to retain any ground powdercontained therein when the dispenser is not being used. A bristle shieldmay be slidably retained upon the body housing to be slidable between aretracted position and an extended position, the extended position beingwhere a first end of the bristle shield, during sliding from the firstposition, contacts and gathers the plurality of bristles of the secondbrush. The bristle shield may thus serve to gather the bristles of thesecond brush in order to more easily permit the cap to be placed uponthe body housing, without causing damage to the outermost of theperiphery of bristles.

The user may choose to only grind as much powder as is needed for asmall single application, or the user may grind a larger amount ofpowder either for a single large application or for a small applicationwith the intent to just retain some powder in the dispensing chamber foruse at a later time. The user may thus control how much powder iscollected within the delivery chamber at any given time by the amount ofbase-to-body housing rotation that is caused.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view of the brush grinder and brush applicator deviceof the present invention and a corresponding cap, with the bristleshield of the device shown in the extended position.

FIG. 2 is the dispenser of FIG. 1, but shown with the cap removed andthe bristle shield being in the retracted position.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the parts comprising the brush grinder andbrush applicator dispenser of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is the end view of the filter member of FIG. 3.

FIG. 4B is a bottom view of the filter member of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the body housing of the brush grinder and brushapplicator device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the body housing of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the body housing of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view through the body housing of FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the base housing of the brush grinder and brushapplicator device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the base housing of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a bottom view of the base housing of FIG. 9.

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view through the base housing of FIG. 10.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of the cap of FIG. 1.

FIG. 14A is a cross-sectional view illustrating movement of powder beadsinto the grinding chamber of the brush grinder and brush applicatordevice of FIG. 1.

FIG. 14B is the cross-sectional view of FIG. 14A, illustrating crushingof the powder beads in the grinding chamber by the brush grinder.

FIG. 14C is the cross-sectional view of FIG. 14B, illustrating grindingof the crushed powder beads in the grinding chamber by the continuedrotation of the brush grinder, to produce powder.

FIG. 15 shows an alternate embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16A-16C shows a variation in the size/shape of the parts of thedispenser shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 16D shows a bottom view of an alternate embodiment of the filtermember that is used in the dispenser of FIG. 16A.

FIG. 16E is a side cross-sectional view of the filter member of FIG.16D.

FIG. 16F is a side view of the cap used on the filter member of FIG.16E.

FIG. 17A-17C shows another variation in the size/shape of the parts ofthe dispenser shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 18A-18C shows a variation in the size/shape of the parts of thedispenser shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows the dispenser 10 of the present invention, which may have acap 100 secured thereon to protect the bristles of the applicator brush,when the dispenser is not being used. FIG. 2 shows the dispenser 10without the cap being secured thereon. Operation of the dispenser 10 maybest be understood through a discussion of its component parts, whichare seen within the exploded view of FIG. 3. Not all of the partsillustrated in FIG. 3 are necessary for the primary functioning of thedispenser 10, as will be discussed hereinafter. As seen in FIG. 3, thedispenser 10 may comprise: a bottom cover 20, a base housing 30, a firstbristle brush 40, a filter member 50, a body housing 60, a bristleshield 70, a bristle retaining ring 80, and a second bristle brush 90.

The base housing 30 is shown in more detail throughout FIGS. 9-12. Thebase housing 30 may be formed into any suitable shape, such as anirregular shape or a regular shape, including, but not limited to, onehaving a rectangular cross-section, one having a pentagonalcross-section, a hexagonal cross-section, an octagonal cross-section, orone having a cylindrical shape, or a conical shape, etc. Merely to beexemplary, the base housing 30 illustrated throughout the drawingfigures is generally shown as having a conical shape. As seen in FIG.12, the conical portion of base housing 30 may extend from a first end31 to a second end 32, and may comprise a conical wall 33 having anouter surface 33R and an inner surface 331. The first end 31 of the basehousing 30 may have a large opening 34 into the inner surface 331 ofconical wall 33, while the second end 32 of the base housing 30 may havea generally flat wall 35 that forms a storage cavity 30C within the basehousing. The opening 34 in the base housing may be releasably securedusing a cover member 20. The cover member 20 may be adapted to fit intoopening 34 in a friction fit, or it may be adapted to snap into theopening, or alternatively, the opening 34 may comprise a series ofinternal threads 34T that may be releasably engaged by a series ofexternal threads 23T that are located on a cylindrical protrusion 23 ofcover member 20 (FIG. 3). The cover member 20 may comprise a wall 24having sufficient depth so as to permit a user to grasp it with a handand cause it to either rotate clockwise or rotate counterclockwise, tothereby cause its respective engagement with or disengagement from theopening 34 of base housing 30.

At the second end 32 of base housing 30 may be a smaller opening 36 thatalso penetrates into the storage cavity 30C, which may be in the wall35. The opening 36 may be sized to permit egress of powder beads 200(FIG. 2) from the storage cavity 30C, which may be stored therein, asdiscussed hereinafter. The powder beads 200 may approximate a sphericalshape, or a box-shape, or any other suitable geometric shape. The beadsmay be prepared from bulk powder of a particular texture that is workedin a mixer similar to the one used to produce candy. During the mixingprocess, a small amount of power is added and then a water basedsolution is sprayed on the powder. At the end of the mixing process,when the beads have reached the desired diameter, they are next cookedin a cosmetic oven.

Another opening in wall 35—opening 37—may be utilized for retention bythe base housing 30 of a first bristle brush—grinder/sweeper brush 40.As seen in FIG. 3, grinder/sweeper brush 40 may comprise a plurality ofbristles 43 beginning at a first end 41 and terminating at or proximateto a second end 42. This plurality of bristles may be secured to thebody housing 30 utilizing a number of different methods. For example,the plurality of bristles 43 may be inserted through opening 37 in basehousing 30 and be bonded thereto using an adhesive or epoxy.Alternatively, the opening 37 in base housing 30 may open into a recess37R formed by one or more sidewalls 37S and a bottom wall 37B, while theplurality of bristles 43 may be banded together using band member 44,with the banded bristle brush being received through the opening 37 intothe recess 37R, as seen in FIG. 1. The band of bristles may be retainedtherein using any suitable means, including, but not limited to, afriction fit, an adhesive, one or more mechanical fasteners, etc. Itshould be noted that although opening 37 is shown to be circular in FIG.10, corresponding to a circular cross-section for the grinder/sweeperbrush 40, the opening 37 may alternatively be square with acorresponding square-shaped grinder/sweeper brush, or the opening 37 maybe formed to other geometric shapes as well, including, but not limitedto, an elongated rectangular shape, a triangular shape, etc.

At the second end 32 of base housing 30 may also be a serpentine shapedstiffener 38 that may extend away from wall 35. A first curved portionof the serpentine-shaped stiffener 38 may curve around opening 37 andaround the grinder/sweeper brush 40 (FIG. 10), and, on the opposite sideof the inflection point of the serpentine-shaped stiffener, a secondcurved portion may curve around the opening 36. Also extending away fromwall 35 may be a cylinder 39, which may comprise an annular protrusion39P that may be used to engage the body housing 60, as discussedhereinafter.

The body housing 60, just like the base housing, may comprise anysuitable exterior shape, which need not necessarily match the exteriorshape of the base housing. The body housing 60 is seen in detailthroughout FIGS. 5-8. Merely to be exemplary, the body housing 60illustrated throughout the drawing figures is generally shown as havinga cylindrical shape. As seen in FIG. 12, body housing 60 may have acylindrical wall 63 that may extend from a first end 61 to a second end62, and may have an outer surface 63R and an inner surface 631. Thecylindrical wall 63 at the second end 62 may comprise a series ofexternal threads 63T.

The first end 61 of the body housing 60 may have a generally flat endwall 65, which may begin at first end 61 and have a thickness extendingin the direction of second end 62. A small annular opening 65A may beformed in the end wall 65 and may extend into a portion of the outercylindrical wall 63, which may thicken locally about the opening 65A.Formed within the opening 65A may be an annular recess 65R that mayextend outward toward the outer surface 63R of cylindrical wall 63. Theannular opening 65A and recess 65R may be used for mating of the bodyhousing 60 with the base housing 30, as discussed hereinafter. A largecylindrical opening 64 in the end wall 65 forms a chamber 60C within thebody housing, as an inner cylinder 66 with an inner diameter matchingthat of opening 64 may extend away from end wall 65 towards second end62. Inner cylinder 66 may be bifurcated by a wall 67. The wall 67 mayhave a small central opening 68 into a hollow conical protrusion 69 thatextends away from the wall 67 towards and beyond second end 62. Thehollow conical protrusion 69 may thus have an outer surface 69R and aninner surface 691 that terminates at a delivery opening 69D. Protrudingfrom wall 67 into the chamber 60C may be a post 67P.

As seen in FIG. 3, the dispenser 10 of the present invention maycomprise a filter member 50. The Filter member 50 may comprise agenerally flat plate 53 (FIG. 4A-4B), having a first side 51 and asecond side 52. The first and second sides of the filter member 50 maybe interconnected by a plurality of selectively sized holes 54 that maybe regularly spaced about the plate 53. A hole 55 sized to match thepost 67P of body housing 60 may also be located therein. The peripheryof the plate 53 may be contoured to match the cross-sectional shape ofthe chamber 60C formed in body housing 60 by opening 64, and maypreferably be circular due to the relative rotational motion that is tobe imparted between the base housing 30 and body housing 60. Extendingfrom the periphery of plate 53 may be a hollow cylinder 56.

The filter member 50 may be received in chamber 60C of body housing 60,with the cylindrical wall 56 of the filter sliding through opening 64 ofthe body housing, until the end of the cylinder 56E, being opposite theplate 53, contacts the wall 67, as seen in FIG. 2. The final positioningof the filter member 50 may also be accomplished with the post 67P ofthe body housing being received within the hole 55 in plate 53 of thefilter 50. The filter member 50 may be retained in this position usingone or more fastening methods, including, but not limited to, the use ofa friction fit therebetween, or the use of an adhesive, or the use ofmechanical fasteners. Receiving the filter member 50 within the chamber60C of the body housing in this manner serves to partition the chamberinto a grinding chamber 10G, and a delivery chamber 10D, thesignificance of which is discussed further hereinafter.

A second brush 90, as seen in FIG. 3, may comprise a plurality ofbristles 93 that may be generally arranged into a ring shape, so as tohave an open central portion 94. These bristles 93 may be securedtogether to form a cohesive arrangement by using epoxy or adhesive atthe base of the brush, proximate to first end 91. The bristles of brush90 may then be received by the body housing, with the hollow conicalprotrusion 69 of the body housing being received through the open centerportion 94 of the brush 90, so that the bristles may be distributedperipherally about the outer surface 69R of the conical protrusion 69,and about its delivery opening 69D. The brush 90 may be formed inseveral ways other than the one described above. The bristles 93 mayalternatively (or additionally) be secured within a bristle retainingring 80, which may, as seen in FIG. 3, comprise a generally cylindricalmember 83 that extends from a first end 81 to a second end 82. At thesecond end 82 of the bristle retaining ring 80, a flange 84 may extendradially outward from the axis of the cylinder 83. The plurality ofbristles 93 being secured first within the bristle retaining ring 80,may aid in more easily forming the desired cohesive shape of brush 90,and may also assist in the receiving of the bristles over the hollowconical protrusion 69 of the body housing during assembly of thedispenser 10.

Once the filter member 50 has been secured within chamber 60C of bodyhousing 60 to form the grinding and delivery chambers 10G and 10D, andonce the grinder/sweeper brush 40 has been secured within the opening 37of the base housing 30, the body housing 60 and the base housing 30 maybe rotatably connected. The rotatable connection may be provided byreceiving the annular protrusion 39P of the hollow cylinder 39 of basehousing 30, within the annular recess 65R within the opening 65A of thebody housing 60, as seen in FIG. 2.

With the dispenser 10 assembled as seen within FIG. 2, a plurality ofpowder beads 200 may be loaded into the storage cavity 30C of basehousing 30, which may be made of a clear plastic material to provide foran aesthetically appealing appearance for the dispenser. Duringoperation of the dispenser 10, the powder beads 200 may freely egressfrom storage cavity 30C through the opening 36 in the body housing 30,to enter the grinding chamber 10G, as seen in FIG. 14A. As the user ofthe dispenser starts to cause rotation of the base housing 30 relativeto the body housing 60, with the base housing rotating in a clock-wisedirection when looking down upon the base housing, the grinder/sweeperbrush 40 engages the powder beads 200 and initially cause crushing ofthe beads within the grinding chamber 10G, as seen within FIG. 14B, fromcontact with at least the side of the plurality of bristles 43 of brush40.

Continuing to cause the clockwise rotation of the base housing 30relative to the body housing 60 results in further engagement by thebrush with the crushed beads 200C, which may, as the size of the beadfragments decrease, occur in proximity to where the second end 42 of thebristles may make contact with the first side 51 of the plate 53 offilter member 50. Such continued engagement and agitation of thefragment by the bristles may cause the size of the fragments to furtherdecrease until the brush has caused the fragments to be reduced to asufficiently small particle size for the desired powder. The pluralityof selectively sized holes 54 in the filter member may be specificallysized to produce the ground particles 200G with each having anappropriate size for a given composition of powder. As an example, eachof the selectively sized holes 54 in the filter member may have adiameter of 1 mm. In this example, as the size of the fragments isreduced to reach 1 mm or less, the grinder/sweeper brush 40 may serveits other function, which may be to sweep or doff the particles into theholes 54, causing them to be transferred from the first side 51 of thefilter member 50 in the grinding chamber 10G, beyond the second side 52of the filter to be within the delivery chamber 10D and within thehollow conical protrusion 69, as seen in FIG. 14C. Such doffing/sweepingmay also serve to prevent clogging of the holes in the filter member 50.

The grinder/sweeper brush 40 serves multiple functions, and may thus beparticularly adapted to optimally serve in its different roles. In oneembodiment for the grinder/sweeper brush 40, each of the bristles 43 mayextend to the second end 42, so that each of the bristles may thereforecontact the first side 51 of the filter member 50 in the grindingchamber 10G, as seen in FIG. 14A. Alternatively, the bristles ends maybe shaved to form a plane that may be angled with respect to second end42, so that on one side of the brush, some of the bristles may reachsecond end 42, but on the opposite side of the brush, the bristlesremain displaced from second end 42, as seen for brush 40 in FIG. 3.Rather than being trimmed to have tapering lengths for the bristles,different length bristles may initially be used to form the brush.

In looking at FIG. 10, and presuming, for the purpose of illustratingthe impact of the bristle lengths on the operation of the dispenser,that the grinder/sweeper brush 40 has been installed in opening 37 showntherein, where the free bristles ends would rise out of the page, theleading edge bristles of the brush 40 (denoted therein by 37L) maypreferably comprise the shorter side of the brush (shorter bristles),and the trailing edge bristles of the brush 40 (denoted therein by 37T)may preferably comprise the longer side of the brush (longer bristles)that may contact the first side 51 of the filter member 50. Note thatthe gradient direction 40G for the taper on the ends of the bristles maygenerally be perpendicular to the radial 30R of the rotating housing(i.e., be generally facing the oncoming beads to thereby capture them inthe taper and drag them along). Also note that the brush need not have acircular cross-section, as shown therein, and may be rectangular, andmay also extend laterally to be in closer proximity to the serpentinewall, and may extend laterally in the opposite direction to be in closerproximity to cylinder 39.

Therefore, the extent of the angle of the shaved/tapered plane definingthe bristle ends, which causes the height of the leading edge bristleends to be displaced from the first side 51 of filter member 50, may becalibrated according to the size of the powder beads that may be used inthe dispenser. The shorter and medium length bristles mayinitially/subsequently be used to capture and engage the beads to causecrushing of its spherical/box shape, and as the resulting fragments growsmaller, the longer length bristles may then act upon the fragments tocause further size reductions, until the desired particle size isreached.

It should be noted that other brush configurations may also beeffectively utilized to initially crush the powder beads into smallerfragmented beads pieces. For example, the leading forward half of thebrush (i.e., bristles being 90 degrees to either side of the leadingedge point 37L) may undulate in length from one lateral side (+90degrees) to the other later side (−90 degrees from the leading edgepoint 37L). Alternatively, the bristles of the leading forward half ofthe brush may follow a step shape, which may serve to initially engagethe beads. In addition, even where each of the bristles may contact thefirst side 51 of the filter member 50 in the grinding chamber 10G, asseen in FIG. 14A, they may nonetheless serve to cause fragmenting of thebeads where they are sufficiently fragile, merely through the agitationcaused by the brush imparting movement to the beads therein. However,the tapered bristle lengths for the first brush, in causing some of thebeads to be dragged within the chamber, may also thereby cause thefragments to scrape against the filter and thereby be ground downquickly, and to also be shaved by the openings in the filter, as thesurface of the filter facing the grinding chamber is not flat.

The rotation arrow noted within FIG. 10 identifies the movement of thebrush on the body housing relative to the filter member 50 in the bodyhousing, and thus shows the brush's engagement with the beads it wouldencounter during the relative rotation. Therefore, it may be seen thatwhen the user of the dispenser starts to cause rotation of the bodyhousing 60 relative to the base housing 30, doing so in acounterclockwise fashion when looking down upon the base housing(opposite of arrow shown in FIG. 10), the grinder/sweeper brush 40 maynot engage the powder beads 200, and instead, they may be generallypushed along within the grinding chamber 10G by the serpentine-shapedwall 38.

It should be noted that, as seen in FIGS. 1-3, a cylindrical bristleshield 70 may be installed to be concentric with respect to thecylindrical wall 63 and inner cylinder 66 of the body housing 60, priorto insertion of the bristle retaining ring 80 and bristles of brush 90.The bristle shield 70 may be slidably retained upon the body housing tobe slidable between a retracted position (FIG. 2) and an extendedposition (FIG. 1), with the extended position being where a second end72 of the bristle shield, during sliding from the first position,contacts and gathers the plurality of bristles of the second brush 90.The bristle shield 70 may thus serve to gather the bristles of thesecond brush 90 in order to more easily permit a cap 100 to be placedupon the body housing, without causing damage to the outermost of theperiphery of bristles. The cap 100 may be threadably received by thebody housing, or a friction fit may be used instead, or a detentarrangement may be used to secure the cap to the housing. The exposedportion of the cap may be knurled for easier gripping to accommodate itsremoval.

It should also be noted that when the cap 100 (FIG. 13) is installedupon the dispenser 10, as seen in FIG. 1, an integral post 103 mayextend away from the first end 101 of the cap toward its second end 102,with the tip 104 of the post being received within the delivery opening69D of the body housing 60 to prevent the unnecessary expulsiontherefrom, of powder stored in the delivery chamber. It lastly should benoted that the user of the device always maintains the option to grindand apply only as much powder as is roughly needed for a singleapplication, or to grind an excess amount that may be retained withinthe delivery chamber, depending on the desire of the individual.

Variations in the size and shape of the dispenser 10 of the presentinvention that is shown in FIG. 1, may be seen within FIGS. 16A-16C fordispenser 10A, within FIGS. 17A-17B for dispenser the dispenser 10B, andwithin FIGS. 18A-18C for the dispenser 10C. Those variations may resultin, for example, a longer base housing 30A (30B, and 30C), with greaterstorage space for the powder beads therein. In addition, as seen inFIGS. 16D-16E for dispenser 10A, the filter 50A may have a cylindricalperiphery, as with filter member 50, but may instead have the generallyflat plate portion 52A transected the cylinder. The length of thecylinder may be such that one end is generally proximate to the end ofthe base housing 30A, so that there is no exposed lip created by thecylinder of the filter member that could catch powder generated therein.In addition, the holes 54A in the flat plate portion 52A of the filtermember may be conically shaped, so as to widen in moving away from thebrush, which may serve to prevent compacting and jamming of the powdertherein.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, the band member 44that may be used to band together the plurality of bristles 43 (FIG. 3),may alternatively be rotatably received within the opening 37 in therecess 37R of the base housing (FIG. 12), rather than being fixedlysecured therein. Also, the cylindrical opening 64 in the body housing 60may have, as seen in FIG. 7, a plurality of grooves 65G positioned aboutits interior periphery, to form part of a modified planetary gearsystem, which may work in combination with corresponding grooves on theexterior periphery of the band member 44. (Note, the band member 44 inthis embodiment would extend beyond the flat wall 35 of the base housing30, as seen in FIG. 2, and this outwardly extending portion of the bandmember would be grooved and positioned to engage the correspondinggrooves 65G on the body housing 60). Therefore, when the body housing 60is rotated relative to the base housing 30, not only may the brushthereby rotate about the rotational axis of the two housing members, butit may also be driven by the modified planetary system to additionallyrotate about its mounting axis within recess 37R of the base housing.This additional rotation of the brush 40 about its mounting axis mayfurther contribute to the crushing and grinding down of the power beadsinto powder particles of the desired size, as it may drive the beadsinto contact with the walls of the housing. (Note, the arrangement istermed a modified planetary gear system, because in a typical planetarygear system, there is a central “sun gear,” which is not utilizedherein, as it is not needed).

In yet another alternate embodiment, seen in FIG. 15, a similarplanetary system may be used to cause a gear 444 to rotate, and therotating gear itself may be used to cause the grinding of the powderbeads.

The examples and descriptions provided merely illustrate a preferredembodiment of the present invention. Those skilled in the art and havingthe benefit of the present disclosure will appreciate that furtherembodiments may be implemented with various changes within the scope ofthe present invention. Other modifications, substitutions, omissions andchanges may be made in the design, size, materials used or proportions,operating conditions, assembly sequence, or arrangement or positioningof elements and members of the preferred embodiment without departingfrom the spirit of this invention.

We claim:
 1. An apparatus, for use in a brushed application of acosmetic powder, said apparatus comprising: a base housing, said basehousing having a first end and a second end, said base housingcomprising a cavity and an opening at said second end into said cavity;a first brush comprising a plurality of bristles, a first end of saidbristles being fixedly secured proximate to a portion of said second endof said base housing, for said plurality of bristles to protrude awayfrom said base housing; a filter member, said filter member comprising aplurality of selectively sized holes; a body housing, said body housingcomprising a first opening into a chamber therein, and a deliveryopening into said chamber; said body housing configured to fixedlyreceive said filter member in said chamber to divide said chamber into adelivery chamber and a grinding chamber, said delivery chamber beingproximal to said delivery opening, and said grinding chamber beingproximal to said first opening; a second brush, said second brushcomprising a plurality of bristles being fixedly secured peripherallyabout said delivery opening of said body housing; wherein said secondend of said base housing is rotatably mounted to said body housing, withsaid plurality of bristles of said first brush configured to extend intosaid grinding chamber for a second end of said bristles to be inproximity to said filter member; and wherein rotation of said basehousing relative to said body housing causes rotation of said bristlesof said first brush in said grinding chamber relative to said filtermember, for use in reducing powder beads into particles forming acosmetic powder being small enough to pass through said selectivelysized filter holes.
 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 wherein saidsecond end of said plurality of bristles of said first brush are taperedin length from a first side of said first brush to a second side of saidfirst brush, and wherein said plurality of bristles of said first brushare fixedly secured to said portion of said second end of said housingto have a gradient of said tapered bristle lengths be generallyorthogonal to a direction of the rotation of said rotatable basehousing.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 2 wherein said bristles ofsaid first brush are configured to extend such that said second end ofsaid bristles contact said filter member.
 4. The apparatus according toclaim 3 wherein said first brush is fixedly secured proximate to saidportion of said second end of said base housing, with an axis of saidfirst brush configured to be offset from an axis of rotation for saidrotatable mounting of said base housing to said body housing.
 5. Theapparatus according to claim 4 further comprising a serpentine-shapedstiffener on said second end of said base housing, saidserpentine-shaped stiffener extending into a portion of said grindingchamber to be proximate to said filter member but displaced therefrom; afirst side of said serpentine-shaped stiffener curving around said firstbrush, and a second side of said serpentine-shaped stiffener curvingaround said opening at said second end of said base housing.
 6. Theapparatus according to claim 5 further comprising a bristle retentionsleeve, said bristle retention sleeve configured to secure saidplurality of bristles of said first brush relative to said body housing.7. The apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said body housing furthercomprises a conical delivery chute between said delivery chamber andsaid delivery opening.
 8. The apparatus according to claim 7 whereinsaid base housing comprises an opening at said first end, and a bottomcover member configured to be releasably secured thereto using asecuring means.
 9. The apparatus according to claim 8 further comprisinga bristle shield, said bristle shield being slidably mounted upon saidbody housing to be slidable between a first position and a secondposition, said first position being a retracted position, said secondposition being an extended position wherein a first end of said bristleshield, during said sliding, contacts and gathers said plurality ofbristles of said second brush.
 10. The apparatus according to claim 9further comprising a cap, said cap being releasably securable upon saidbody housing using a cap securing means; and wherein said cap comprisesan integral post extending away from an end of said cap, said post beingreceived within said delivery opening of said body housing when said capis secured upon said body housing.
 11. The apparatus according to claim10 wherein said plurality of selectively sized holes of said filtercomprise holes having a diameter of 1 mm or smaller.